Materials
wood, pigment, metal
Dimensions
12 3/4 x 6 x 5 1/4 in.
Credit line
Martha Delzell Memorial Fund, Gift of the Alliance of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Russell and Becky Curtis Art Purchase Endowment Fund and Lucille Stewart Endowed Art Fund
Gallery Label (back to top)
This distinctive two-headed, two-faced type of headpiece was documented in the 1950s as an innovation of the carver Ochai, from the village of Otobi. This carving may have been made either by Ochai or by an artist working in his style. Countering the assumption of anonymity in traditional African art, this headpiece exemplifies an individual artistic vision and stylistic change from one generation to the next.
Headpieces of this type were worn during the funerals of important persons. The man wearing the headpiece would have been concealed with a full body garment. The design of Janus, or opposing faces, may refer either to the ubiquity of deities or to dualties such as male and female, or good and evil.
Indianapolis Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection (2005) (back to top)
Multifaced masks with heart-shaped white faces appear frequently in southeastern Nigeria, but this distinctive two-headed, two-faced type of mask was attributed in the 1950s as an innovation of a specific carver named Ochai, from the village of Otobi. The carving may have been made either by Ochai or by an artist working in his style. Countering the European assumption of anonymity in traditional African art, this mask exemplifies an individual artistic vision and stylistic change from one generation to the next.
The headpiece is carved from a single piece of wood, except for the birds on either side and the circular elements on top of the head. The lower face is missing two curved elements normally attached at the ears in other masks of this kind. The design of Janus, or opposing faces, which rewards viewing this headpiece in the round, may refer either to the ubiquity of deities or to dualities such as male and female. This mask type is known as ungulali, or “flute,” for its association with the piped music that accompanied a dance of the mask. These headpieces were worn mainly at the funerals of important persons or at entertainments. Other Idoma crests depict as many as six heads.
Circles on the upper head double as hair patterns and ripe fruit for hungry birds, perhaps evoking Idoma harvest masquerades.
